Behind The Bells Podcast

"Rudolph, with your nose so bright, will you guide my sleigh tonight?"

We get to the point where Arthur Rankin Jr. and songwriter Johnny Marks meet to discuss turning the classic song into an animated TV special. Time to learn how General Electric paid for the entire budget, which meant the elves were now selling electric blankets and can openers.

Learn how the animating team in Japan took a lot of care in their detail to build the 22 sets and characters over the 18 month filming. Also learn how Burl Ives ended up the only actor to earn any residuals from the special.

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"Whats the matter with misfits, thats where we fit in!"

Time to dive into the stop motion world of Rankin/Bass! Before we get into the special itself, it's important to go into the history of the story and song...which explains why we never see Rudolph in Santa's gang even though he's famous

Learn how the story writer was a copywriter who came up with the idea just for a promotional giveaway, how the songwriter served his country before coming up with the song and how they convinced a reluctant Gene Autry into singing the first hit of the 50s.

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"Hey! The only one who yells is me!"

Film Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was about to come on because of...NASCAR. Denis Leary wanted to go from a risqué standup comic to actor and MTV commercial director Ted Demme was ready to break into movies

Learn how all these people got together, how the film's ending would have dramatically changed the entire movie and why a crowded season of comedies may have forced The Ref out of the 1993 holiday season.

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"You know what this family needs? A mute"

Writer Richard Lagravenense, who was raised in New York, wanted to be a playwright like Neil Simon or Eugune O' Neil. It just so happened that he also loved movies with sharp dialogue and great jokes.

Learn how he scored his first hit with The Fisher King (which was also his first script ever written on his own), How his personal families Christmases gave him and his sister-in-law the idea and why he left Disney after too much executive meddling.

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"One hundred gold pieces, and not a penny more!"

Burny not only gathered his best crew, he assigned people to whichever character they wanted. So why did Disney not want them to hire back the original voice of Donald Duck?

Learn about how characters from Pinocchio and Sword in the Stone were replaced, how they almost made the short into feature length and how the short (and it's movie's it related with) got competition from...The Smurfs.

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"If I give money to the poor, then they won't be poor anymore"

At a point when Disney was putting out fewer animated projects, a young animator Burny Mattinson pitched a retelling of a Christmas Carol with Mickey and the gang. It was the first new Mickey cartoon in over 30 years.

Learn about why Disney's Animation output had declined. Learn how a young man started from the mail room all the way to working with the 9 Old Men. Also see how Alan Young would introduce Scrooge McDuck to more people

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"Open Holidays Only!"

Irving Berlin was now ready to work with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire to bring his story of a hotel only open on holidays to life. But there was concern to see how well their personalities would work together. They still had to find their unknown to play Linda as well.

Even with the production going well, Pearl Harbor would happen. Learn what they changed about one of their songs. Also learn how White Christmas would become famous on the battlefield. Also, we'll dive into the controversial blackface sequence that may the reason not many people talk about Holiday Inn any more

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"Don't Ask Why. Just go and God Bless America."

Irving Berlin went from being the youngest of eight children to an immediate hit songwriter whose song "Blue Skies" would be one of the first pieces of music on film. But he would end up away from his family a lot and yearned to be back in New York celebrating any holiday.

Learn how his consistent work would inspire him to write White Christmas. Also see how Bing Crosby, who was dominating the radio scene, would be selected to debut White Christmas and set up the negotiation for Holiday Inn.

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"This is it! Don't get scared now."

At the start of production in Winnetka, Illinois, Home Alone seemed to have things ready to go with the entire production being done in a gym. But Daniel Stern would be fired early to be replaced by a Matlock actor. Also learn how Warners got mad that Home Alone would end up costing more then the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Also hear about how Joe Pesci took inspiration from the Looney Tunes, how they got lucky with getting John Williams as a composer and why the film was in theaters all the way till June of the next year.

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"Peter! We slept in!"

John Hughes was in a point in his career where he would exit directing to focus on writing and producing. Though Uncle Buck would provide some help, it was actually a vacation where John got the idea. Learn how he wrote his script...almost as close as the film would come out.

Also learn how Chris Columbus would get the directing job even after a major flop. Oh, and how certain roles almost went to Jon Lovitz, Kelsey Grammar and even Chris Farley. Yep, THAT Chris Farley.

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